WASHINGTON:A key House panel advanced a bill to lift 40-year-old restrictions on U.S. crude exports as more Democrats said they may be willing to ease the trade limits.The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power passed the measure by voice vote Thursday. Before that, Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and the bill’s sponsor, said the full committee may vote next week and the full House “reasonably soon” thereafter.
The restrictions may be repealed in three to four months, he said during a breakfast meeting in Washington.Oil producers including Conoco Phillips, Hess Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. are seeking to end the ban, which was enacted during the energy shortages of the 1970s. Four refiners including Delta Air Lines Inc.’s Monroe Energy LLC and PBF Energy Inc. are among those lobbying to keep it. Producers expect to benefit from being able to sell crude abroad, while some refiners fear that U.S. oil may cost more.
The repeal is part of a legislative schedule that includes the nuclear deal with Iran and funding for highway transportation. It will have to compete for floor time with those and other issues, and electoral politics in 2016 may soon complicate controversial legislation.Lifting the export ban may cost refining jobs in states including Pennsylvania, Representative Michael Doyle, a Democrat from the state, said at Thursday’s hearing.
